History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c89.179

v7.c89.179

Certain natural phenomena, though they may be called utpātas if they occur at certain times, are not to be regarded as such at certain other times. In Br. S. 45. 82 Varāha says that certain occurrences natural to certain seasons do not lead to any unfavourable consequences; one should know them from the verses composed by Ṛṣiputra that are concise. Then he proceeds: in Madhu and Mādhava (Caitra and Vaiśākha) the following occurrences lead to good viz. lightning, meteors, earthquake, glowing twilight, noisy whirl-winds, halo (of Sun and Moon), dust in the sky, vapour (in forest), red sunrise and sunset; possibility of getting from trees food, rasas (sweet &c.), oily substances, numerous flowers and fruits, and amorous activities among cows and birds. The following are beneficial (auspicious) in summer (Jyeṣṭha and Āṣāḍha) viz. sky rendered dusky by the fall of stars and meteors, or in which the appearance of the Sun and the Moon is dark-brown, which is full of fiery glow without a flaring fire, loud noises, vapour, dust and winds, in which evenings are like red lotus and which look like a stormy sea, and when rivers are dried up. In the rains (Śrāvaṇa and Bhādrapada) the following portend no danger viz. rainbow, halo (of Sun and Moon), lightning, dried trees giving out fresh sprouts, the earth quaking or rolling or showing other than its usual appearance, noises in the earth or gaps therein, or when lakes increase in expanse of water or rivers rise up (in floods), or when wells are full or when houses on hills roll down. In Śarad (Āśvina and Kārtika) the following are not of evil import viz the sight of divine damsels, ghosts, gandharvas, air conveyances and other *adbhutas*, the planets, nakṣatras and other stars becoming visible by day in the sky, noises of song and music in forests and on mountain peaks, abundance of crops and reduction of waters In Hemanta (Mārgaśīrṣa and Pauṣa) the following are auspicious viz. the presence of cool winds and frost, loud cries of birds and beasts, the sight of rakṣas (evil spirits), Yakṣas and other (usually invisible) beings, non-human voices, directions darkened by vapour together with the sky, forests and mountains, the appearance of the rise and setting of the Sun at a higher point than usual. The following appearances are auspicious in Śiśira (Māgha and Phālguna) viz the fall of snow, portentous winds, sight of terrible beings and *adbhutas*, sky resembling dark collyrium and rendered reddish-yellow by the fall of meteors and stars, the birth of various strange issue from women, cows, sheep, mares, beasts, and birds, strange appearances of leaves, sprouts and creepers. These when seen in the proper seasons are auspicious in those respective seasons, but when seen at other than the proper seasons they are very terrible portents. Two verses¹²⁴⁰ about Madhu-Mādhava and the last one (Br. S. 45. 84-85 and 95) are quoted below. The Br. S. further provides¹²⁴¹ that whatever Gāthās (*prākrit* verses or simply verses) are recited by persons of distracted intellect, the utterances of children and what women speak out does not turn out to be wrong and that a person that understands utpātas, even though he may be devoid of mathematics (about planets), becomes famous and a favourite of the king, and by knowing the secret (or esoteric) words of the sage (Ṛṣiputra) which are stated (by me), a person sees the past, the present and the future.